Fake grenade forces school evacuation

JENNA-LEY HARRISON

Staff Writer

Deputies rushed to a local elementary school Friday morning after they thought a student had an explosive device on campus, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Deputies forced staff at Pumpkin Center Elementary School to conduct a fire drill as precaution just after 11 a.m. after a second-grade student brought a device that looked like a grenade for “show and tell,” according to an agency press release.

School officials found the fake grenade around 8 a.m. but didn’t call the Lincoln County Communications Center until nearly three hours later, deputies said. They contained the device in the principal’s office and later contacted deputies for precaution.

School officials were not too alarmed about the device since it did not contain a pin, Superintendent Dr. Sherry Hoyle told the Times-News Friday afternoon. After contacting the child’s father, school officials learned the device was a souvenir item he’d had for several years.

“He didn’t express any alarm or danger,” Hoyle said.

To be on the safe side, school officials contacted local law enforcement to inspect the fake grenade.

Students later returned to their classrooms after deputies double checked the device was harmless.

No injuries occurred in the incident, and no charges were filed in the case, the Sheriff’s Office said.